Fandom Persona: Non Grata Lorebook

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Persona: Non GrataSinners
Men and women who have committed grave crimes against their own fellow men, for whatever varying reasons. In their last hours of their lives, or perhaps through fervent prayer, they have wished for another chance, another life, another way to redo what they have done in their lives. In return, however, they will have to serve out sentences meted upon them. This said sentence would have to be served out within the ever changing walls of Velvet Passion, as staff members. Each and every one of them, though vastly different in personalities and pasts, have but one thing in common- the want to Restart. To Restart, they have to work for the Velvet Passion.

Sinners have their memories taken from them as payment, their true identities taken and destroyed. However, in return, they are gifted three things: the knowledge that they have sinned, the purpose of Velvet Passion, their duties, and what they have to do; the skills and muscle memory that they had in their lives prior, and the ability to bring forth the manifestations of their souls: Persona.

At their end of their sentences, sinners will be granted their heart’s one wish. A Restart to their lives. All will be as it should be.

Persona
The soul’s will made manifest into a form. It allows the owner to deal damage upon what is normally incorporeal or impossible to harm. Conversely, these forms cannot be seen by mere mortals, nor can they actually interact with mortal beings. They are used explicitly for carrying out liquidation Requests.

Velvet Passion
Velvet Passion appears in varying forms, though people have sworn to have seen it in another form or another. Customers have sworn it has appeared once as a small coffeehouse, nary larger than one that anyone would find at the corner of the street, and some have attested to the fact that it is instead an accommodating bistro, about the size of a family restaurant. Others still claim that it is a multi-storeyed restaurant. The truth of the matter is that Velvet Passion takes a adaptive form based on how many sinners currently reside within.

The Velvet Passion seemingly transcends all time and space, appearing in various parts of the world all at once. It is believed by many customers, and lauded by its proprietor, Heosphorus, that it only appears to those who are needed by it, and those who need it. Indeed, many customers only hit upon the idea of going to Velvet Passion’s for a meal at strange times, though perhaps that sentiment is borne from some misplaced sense of self-importance. Sinners who serve the Velvet Passion are expected to wait on these customers, just as any normal establishment like theirs is bound to do.

Nonetheless, once in a blue moon, a different sort of customer will enter through the doors. Instead of a macchiato and a croque monsieur, they will request assistance in certain different matters.


Requests
Some customers of Velvet Passion do not seek the comfort of a warm seat, a cup of coffee, and a sandwich. They instead seek vengeance, or closure, or anything else in between. While innocuous in nature, these requests are often steeped in the supernatural and otherworldly, so Sinners, armed with this knowledge, will best arm themselves also with not only strength, but wits as well to fulfill these requests. Doing so will even earn sinners a nice reward of lifting several years off their sentence. While failures are frowned upon, thankfully, the powers that be will not mete out any punishments for failing to fulfill a request. These Requests can often be categorised into two groups, though some may fall into a special category. These two groups are: Liquidation and Retrieval.

Free Time
As all establishments are wont to do, there are off days for sinners as well. Working 24/7, after all, is counter productive. Sinners are allowed to roam around the town that the Velvet Passion happens to be in at the current week, every Wednesday and enjoy their Free Time. Velvet Passion, itself, opens from 12 pm to 12 am, giving at least half a day for recuperation each day, allowing for sinners to socialise and be merry for a while. Bear in mind that Free Time takes up a bulk of some of the RP, and the narrative will slow down significantly during these periods.

Mission
The other half of the RP, where all the action is situated. During Missions, time and space become distorted, thanks to The Powers Above and perhaps Gregory’s intervention. Free Time is not wasted during these, and is counted amongst work hours. Velvet Passion’s business will not decline due to having to fulfill requests, worry not.

Threats
Shadows, Demons, other humans, lost Sinners, the paranatural and the supernatural fall under this category. The Velvet Passion has taken to categorise any and all beings and personnel that are allowed to be liquefied during Missions as Threats. Sinners are reminded to suffer not to let even one live. Hope yet lives with sinners, but those who are lost have the same light no longer.

 

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MechanicsLive By Your Sins, Die By Your Sins
During Liquidation requests, as well as occasionally Retrieval requests, Sinners may encounter various Threats and Obstacles. To facilitate combat, the GM (or perhaps someone else) will handle the actions of the Threat. All Threats have a hidden stat pool as well as strengths and weaknesses not unlike the Sinners themselves. Until they are exploited in some way, or revealed through certain means, the weaknesses of Threats remain unknown.

AGI will determine which character acts first. AGI also determines Evasion points, which allow for a character to mitigate, if not completely avoid receiving damage altogether. Each character starts off with 3 Evasion points, and for every 2 points to AGI adds 1 extra point. Evasion points cannot be replenished during a Mission, so they ought be spent wisely. Some attacks, especially ones from higher ranking Threats, are unavoidable, but often, there are other means to stop them.

Physical and Magical skills have multipliers attached to them. Weak skills have a modifier of 1.2x, while medium have a 1.5x, strong with 2x, and finally severe with 3x.

END will determine just how much health pool a character will have. Each point to END adds extra health to the health pool. As it stands currently, the health distribution is as follows:

1 - 35
2 - 45
3 - 60
4 - 70
5 - 80
6 - 95
7 - 105
8 - 115
9 - 130
10 - 140
11 - 150
12 - 165
So on and so forth.

SP distribution will follow the same pattern.

LUC determines Crit points. Each character will start off with a base of 3 Crit points. For every 4 points invested in LUC, the character will be provided 1 Crit point. Criticals double the damage of a physical attack, and can be used at any point during a physical action to deal extra damage. It has a set chance of knocking down an enemy as well- the tougher they are, the more unlikely it is to bowl them over. Take note, that Crit points also count for more than dealing more damage. In desperate situations, they can also double as Evasion points, as well as immediately increase Instant Kill spells chances to a hundred percent (though this will not work in certain boss fights).

For the most part, Evasion and Crit points cannot be replenished by normal means, and will refill naturally post-Mission. Certain choices, however, during Missions, will grant characters a point in either, though these choices are not usually the best ones. Not all blessings are indicative of a kind ending.

Buff and debuff skills operate somewhat similarly in P:NG, with the exception of Sukukaja. Descriptions will be as follows:
Sukukaja: May grant 1 Evasion point once per phase for three phases, as well as increases AGI by 20%.
Tarukaja: Increases STR by 20%.
Rakukaja: Increases DEF by 20%.

Combat tutorials will be provided IC.

Strength Through Strife
By accomplishing Requests and/or defeating Threats, Sinners will gain experience and ‘level up’, as it were. Each level will allow them to allot 8-12 points to their stats, in any way they wish, to better prepare them for future confrontations.

Newcomers are usually dissuaded from entering combat with more dangerous Threats, but should they triumph over the Threat, they will reap sweeter rewards. Conversely, should a seasoned Sinner confront a lesser Threat, they would receive less experience than they normally would.

 

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FAQDo the Personae have a common theme?
Yes. All Personae of the sinners are, fittingly, ‘sinners’ of both fiction and non-fiction : tyrants, murderers, those who have fallen from God’s grace of any religion or myths, villains vilified by time so on and such. A few ideas for Personae that can be adopted are Nobunaga Oda, Vlad Tepes, and Elizabeth Bathory. Players may or may not use titles instead of names, such as the Demon King for Nobunaga, as another example.


Are the Personae sentient?
No. They are the soul made manifest. Does one’s hand or leg have a mind of its own? Similarly, the soul does not have such freedom. The Personae are simply extensions of the owner’s soul and body.

Does the RP coincide with any Persona games?
Perhaps. The strange outbreak, the mysterious killings attributed to a lone police officer, and the emergence of a group of gentleman thieves have happened, but they will not affect anything in this RP. Their fates do not intertwine with the Sinners, so to speak.

Is there a Wild Card in this RP?
No. There will be no discussion on this matter. The Fool, however, still exists as an applicable Arcana. They will receive just as much focus as other Arcana, with no special treatment. Sinners deserve much less.

What are you looking for in a RPer?
I would prefer a mature writer, I suppose, though I can make exceptions. So long as the writing is good and within acceptable standards where I do not cringe at every line or two, it should be fine.

How many players do you suppose you will accomodate?
The whole 22 Arcana, at the very most. I will not be factoring in the Thoth deck, ergo, no Jesters or Aeon.

 

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Tarot Arcana Quick Reference0 Fool: Beginnings, Innocence, Free Spirit/Naivete, Foolishness, Recklessness
I Magician: Power, Skill, Concentration, Resourcefulness/Manipulation, Poor Planning
II High Priestess: Intuition, Mystery, Higher Powers, Subconscious/Hidden Agendas, Need to Listen to Inner Voice
III Empress: Feminity, Beauty, Abundance/Dependency, Creative Block
IV Emperor: Authority, Father Figure, Structure/Domination, Excessive Control, Rigidity
V Hierophant: Religion, Group Identification, Tradition/Restriction, Challenging the Status Quo
VI Lovers: Love, Union, Relationships, Values Alignment, Choices/Disharmony, Imbalance
VII Chariot: Control, Will Power, Victory/Lack of Direction, Aggression
VIII Strength: Courage, Patience, Compassion/Weakness, Self-Doubt
IX Hermit: Soul-searching, Introspection, Inner Guidance/Isolation, Withdrawal
X Wheel of Fortune: Karma, Destiny, Turning Point/Negative External Forces, Lack of Control
XI Justice: Fairness, Truth, Cause and Effect/Lack of Accountability, Dishonesty
XII Hanged Man: Letting Go, Sacrifice/Matyrdom, Indecision
XIII Death: Endings, Change, Transition/Inability to Move On, Resistance to Change
XIV Temperance: Balance, Moderation, Patience/Lack of Long Term Vision, Imbalance
XV Devil: Bondage, Addiction, Materialism/Breaking Free, Power Reclaimed
XVI Tower: Disaster, Sudden Change, Revelation/Avoidance of Disaster, Fear of Change
XVII Star: Hope, Renewal, Inspiration, Sincerity/Lack of Faith, Despair, Discouragement
XVIII Moon: Illusion, Fear, Anxiety/Release of Fear, Unhappiness, Confusion
XIX Sun: Fun, Warmth, Success, Vitality/Temporary Depression, Lack of Success
XX Judgement: Rebirth, Inner Calling, Absolution
XXI World: Completion, Integration, Accomplishment

 

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NPCs

Heosphoros
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A silver-haired man who manages the Velvet Passion. Light-hearted, a bit of a wannabe casanova, and generally easy to get along, the fact that he exists at all within the Velvet Passion is an indicator that he is perhaps not what he seems. He is responsible for bringing the Velvet Passion around the world and following whatever orders that comes from, in his own words, ‘higher up’.

Vesper
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A silver-haired lady who seems to just be invading on Velvet Passion’s grounds. She rarely does much except take up space at one corner of Velvet Passion, no matter what form it takes. That having been said, she does bring with her an assortment of weapons each time she appears, and provides Sinners with armaments. She has a short fuse, as compared to Heosphoros, and makes no effort to conceal her spite for Sinners.